Tampa Jesuit (FL) kicked off the 1st Pitch Classic last night with an 8-0 win against Land O'Lakes High School.

The Tigers kicked off the festivities with RHP/SS Lance McCullers presenting the 2011 Jackie Robinson Award (HS Baseball equivalent to the Heisman Trophy) he earned at the PG All-American Classic to Jesuit HS.

McCullers then turned it over to the #1 overall pick of the 2007 MLB Draft and current Tampa Bay Rays ace LHP David Price. Price threw out the cermonial first pitch to Nolan Schultz, who got the start behind the plate.

In spite of the presence of those two flamethrowers, Jesuit had plenty of more pitching to show off. The Tigers used four juniors to combine on a one-hit shutout with 15 combined strikeouts.

MIF/RHP Spencer Trayner got the start and struck out five over the first three innings. LHP/OF John Kilichowski sat down five in two scoreless innings of relief. RHP Jordan Parnell struck out the side in his inning and C/RHP/3B Adrian Chacon closed out the 8-0 win with a pair of strikeouts of his own.

Chacon, a primary Catcher who is currently ranked No. 61 in the class of 2013 is the soft tosser of the group, as he generally pitches "only" in the upper 80s with good command. The other three have all been over 90 mph in the past year and all got their 2012 seasons off to a good start.

C Joe Altieri served as the Tigers DH last night and went three-for-three with a pair of RBI doubles early on to put the game out of reach quickly.

The Tigers will be back in action tomorrow night against Lake Wales High School in a game that will feature a marquee pitching matchup. Lake Wales will send ace lefty Tyler Pike to the mound, Jesuit will counter with McCullers.